Go Green in the City
Darius Emrani (CPE '13) competed at the Go Green in the City 2012 competition in Paris. His team's EnerGymnasia project proposed methods for harnessing energy generated by gym-goers and using it to power the electrical systems of gyms.
Technology-Assisted Teaching
Ethan Groves (CPE '13) was on the team that won a 2012 Virginia Tech XCaliber Award for developing technology that helped a visually impaired student understand complex mathematical formulas.
Apping Disasters
Dr. Jules White led a team of students to develop a smartphone app that will allow citizens to collect data for scientists and emergency responders during natural disasters.
ECE encourages undergraduates to gain hands-on experience in our cutting-edge laboratories.
Depending upon interests and abilities, undergraduates can contribute in many ways, including design, measuring, construction, animation, and programming.
How to find research opportunities
- Sometimes opportunities are advertised in the relevant classes or posted on the student listserv.
- Most opportunities arise when an interested student approaches a professor with strong interest and proven ability.
- Students also can propose an independent research project, which they develop in consultation with their advisor.
Undergraduate Research Examples
Hume Center Intelligence Community Scholars Program
The Hume Center offers scholarships for undergraduates interested in pursuing careers in intelligence, defense, or national security. Students are required to complete independent research projects and present their work at the Intelligence Community Colloquium.
SuperDARN
The Virginia Tech SuperDARN radar group conducts research on Earth's space environment using a network of over 25 radars. Students are involved with all aspects of research, including hardware design, operations, and data analysis.
Wireless@VT Research Experience for Undergraduates (REU)
Each summer, students participate in a 10-week research and education program studying cognitive communications in the Wireless@VT labs.
E-Textiles
Student researchers at the E-Textiles lab are working to develop wearable computers and large-scale sensor networks from fabrics that have electronics and interconnections woven into them.
Center for Power Electronics Systems (CPES) Undergraduate Research Assistantships
CPES provides support to students for research in a variety of areas, including power devices, electronic packaging, CAD tools, digital signal processors, analog devices, power conversions, and motor drivers and control.
IT Security Lab
Undergraduates at the Information Technology Security Lab assist faculty with cyber security and privacy research and have the option to develop their own independent study projects.
Center for Embedded Systems for Critical Applications (CESCA)
Undergraduates at CESCA are conducting research in many areas of embedded systems, including microcontroller cryptography and concurrent software testing and verification.
MagnumGroup
Students in the Mobile Application computinG, optimizatioN, and secUrity Methods Group develop smartphone applications and conduct research in cloud computing.